1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to back supports and more particularly to a back support designed to provide two points of entry, thereby allowing side entry to the back support, and also greater adjustability. Further, the invention relates to a back support designed for obese persons.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention is for use by persons who do relatively heavy or awkward lifting, pulling or pushing, and is primarily to help prevent serious back injury by providing abdominal and lumbosacral support. It is not intended to be a therapeutic device for persons who have previous back problems or abdominal muscle injury, although it can be used to help prevent the reoccurrence of such problems. The invention is particularly useful in hospitals or nursing homes by nurses or orderlies or the like who, from time to time, might have to lift or pull up patients or residents and need some support to prevent back problems from occurring, yet during the normal course of their other daily activities, they do not need this aid. They have the need for this type of support device occasionally, so want it handy as the need arises, and also need to be comfortable while wearing the device when not needed for support. Similar applications are to be found for industry use and for workers in other trades and industries.
Specifically, the present invention can readily be adapted for use by workers which need not only the benefit of the prevention of back injury, but also would like to wear a support which is not as readily visible to others. Still further, more adjustability is available to the wearer by having two points of entry. If the wearer's body is not symmetrical, such as the hips being offset, both sides of the support may be adjusted.
There are a number of stress band type devices which have been used over the years as therapeutic devices for helping to cure various aches and pains due to muscle or other type of damage, and particularly with respect to back problems. Many of these earlier devices are constructed so that they can not be conveniently removed or unfastened and then re-fastened from time to time as the need for the added support comes and goes. In other words, they must be worn full-time or not at all. Still others are bulky and/or cumbersome and/or fairly heavy and if used or worn as an outer garment, interfere with the normal working activities of the users. Other problems with the prior art involve complications in hook up and adjustment, cleaning and not being universal for different sizes and shapes.
For the past several years, the assignee of the present application, Ergodyne Corporation, has sold a back support which has addressed and solved many of the above-noted problems. The support is easy to use, adjustable for many different sizes, easily cleaned, and does not interfere with normal activity. It can readily be temporarily tightened for support when needed and released when normal activities occur.
While the above-mentioned back support has found great popularity and has provided for a much improved product, there are still several areas of concern relating not only to the assignee's back support but others presently available.
When such back supports have been worn by females, the support has tended to ride up on the female during use. While this has not been solely a problem for females, it has been typically been more of a problem for females due to the size of a female's hips in relationship to her waist. Typically, the hips tend to be larger in relationship to their waist. While this is of course not only a characteristic of females, females do tend to have this body shape more often than men. Accordingly, when used throughout this application, reference to females will not be limited to only females, but to persons having the more typical female body shape with respect to the hips in relationship to the waist. Also, depending on the activity engaged in by the wearer, a male may also have his support ride up while in use.
In addition, the elastic band of the back support has typically been secured by means which would not readily release the elastic band. Therefore, when an elastic band was faulty, it was necessary to replace the whole back support. In addition, it has been quite popular to now have a logo or other writing on the elastic band as that is what is visible. When ordered by different companies, they will quite often want their own logo on the elastic band. By previous methods of construction, it was necessary to keep in stock the combination of waistband and elastic band. Applicants have found by having the elastic band removable, the same waistband may be used by many elastic bands having various logos.
Still further, the back supports to date, while comfortable, have tended to be made of a textile material, and have not had efficient transfer of heat and moisture from the wearer of the back support. Still further, for industrial workers using tools, which are normally carried on a tool belt, back supports have not been popular as there have been the necessity of not only wearing a tool belt, but also the back support. This has proved cumbersome and the workers have tended not to wear both. U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,535 does show a belt, typically worn by weight lifters, which has been adapted to hold tools. However, the tools are supported directly from the strap webbing. The back support disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,524, issued Aug. 20, 1991, and entitled "BACK SUPPORT", addresses many of these problems.
In a number of service industries, such in hotels and cruise liners, the wearer of the back support would like for the back support to be as hidden as possible. This provides for a neater appearance when not in use. The present invention addresses problems associated with the prior art and does provide for a back support which has two points of entry and has a "cummerbund" style which presents a cleaner and neater appearance. Still further, in another embodiment of the invention, a back support is provided for an obese person. The front section of the support is designed to provide a cupping action designed to capture and lift fat tissue for maximum abdominal support.
The present invention addresses the problems associated with the prior art devices.